Alarm-horn.



WILLIAMEDWIN RUSSELL da WILLIAM EARLE RUSSELL.

ALARM HORN.

APPLICATION FILED DEG.15, 1910. 1,120,627. Patented Dec. 8,1914.

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WILLIAM EDWIN RUSSELL & WILLIAM EARLE RUSSELL. ALARM HORN.

APPLIOAATION FILED DB0.15, 1910,

1, 1 20,627. Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFTCE.

WILLIAM EDWIN RUSSELL AND WILLIAM EARLE RUSSELL, 0F DANBURY, CONNECTI-CUT, ASSIG-NOBS, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO LOVELL-MCCONNELL MANUFACTUR-ING G0., A COREORATION OF DELAWARE.

ALARM-nenn. y

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec.l 8, 1914.

Application led December 15, 1910. Serial No. 597,493.

To all whom 'it may concern Be it known that we, lViLLIAM EDWIN RUSSELLand VILLIAM EARLE RUSSELL, both citizens of the United States, residingin the city of Danbury, county of Fairfield, and State of Connecticut,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Alarm Horns; and wedo declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates to alarm horns such as areused on automobiles,boats, and in other instances where it becomes necessary to sound asignal, and hasfor its object to provide an exceedingly efcient deviceof this description without 'the use of rigid or unyielding elementssuch as cams heretofore employed for the purpose of positivelydisplacing a sounding diaphragm preparatory to the resilient recovery ofthe latter.

lVith these ends in view our invention consists in certain details ofconstruction and combination of parts hereinafter fully described andthen particularly pointed out in the claims which conclude thisdescription.

In the accompanying drawing Figure l is an elevation, partly in section,illustrating our improved horn; Fig. 2 an 'elevation of the disk ordiaphragm which we employ, and Fig. 3 an interior end view showingparticularly the rotary head carried by the shaft of the motor.

Similar numerals of reference denote like parts in the several figuresof the drawing.

Our improvement is operated by any suitable and approved motor which maybe actuated by electricity or by any other agent,

although we prefer to operate the same by an electric current since thelatter` may be very readily and simply controlled by merely closing andopening the circuit, but our improvement has nothing whatever to do withany construction of motor and wel therefore have not illustrated norwill we describe such motor.

Heretofore, in the construction of alarm horns, a sounding diaphragm hasqbeen employed which has been vibrated in various ways, such as by arotary cam acting to rigidly force the diaphragm outwardly so that afterthe cam surface has left the diaphragm the latter will by its resiliencyrecover and thereby complete the vibration; also the diaphragm has beenvibrated directly or indirectly by the make and break principle duetothe agency of an electromagnet.. In the illustrated embodiment of ourinvention the resultant sound is due in part to the vibration of thediaphragm and in part to violent and rapid disturbances of the air bymeans of piston-like impulses of the air through openings in thediaphragm.

l is a casing containing any suitable motor 2 (not shown in detail) and3 is the shaft of said motor projecting beyond the face thereof withinany suitable hollow cheek plate 4 that is secured to said casing.

5 is a head which is preferably circular in cross section and is securedto and carried by said shaft, and within this head are open pockets orrecesses 6 that are concentrically disposed with respect to the axis ofrevolution of said shaft. Contained freely within the mouths of thesepockets are balls 7 which are backed by coil springs 8 that are confinedbetween the inner walls of said pockets and the rear of said balls, thefunction of said springs being to normally project or impel said ballsoutwardly.

9 is the horn or resonator whose base portion 10 is secured to the plate4, and l1 is a diaphragm or disk which is confined at its outer edgebetween said plate and base. This diaphragm has perforations or recesses12 that are disposed concentrically with respect to theaxis ofrevolution of the @haft 3 and that coincide with the balls 7 as the head5iis revolved, so that when the rotor turns slowly it may be clear thatthese balls will track against the diaphragm until they come oppositethe perforations into which latter they will be violently forced by theresiliency of the diaphragm and the action of the springs 8. The outerface of the head 5 is` normally spaced from the diaphragm so thatvolvedthe balls will operate to sequentially open and close theseperforations, but while we prefer'this construction we do not wish to belimited thereby since results more or less satisfactory may be obtainedby increasing or decreasing the number of these perforations as well asthe number of the balls, but we have ascertainedthat exceedingly goodresults will follow in the instance of the construction shown in thedrawings. The diameter of the balls is greater than that of theperforations so that, as the head is revolved, the balls willVeffectively plug the perforations without passing through the same.

In the drawing we have shown the pockets 6 inclined or diverging fromtheir inner ends towardV th'periphery of the head 5, since the balls arethereby initially affected by centrifugal force to the extent that thealarm is more pronounced as the motor is acquiring headway thanwould bethe case in`the`instance of straight pockets parallel to the motorshaft. It is'not absolutely necessary to utilize the springs inconnection with the divergent pockets since the balls will be projectedbeyond the pockets both by gravity and centrifugal force and will beheld by the latter in operative position, and'while we prefer to use thesprings we do not wish to be limited thereby except in the instance ofpockets that are parallel to the motor shaft.

When the pockets are divergent, the resiliency of the diaphragm, whenthe motor has acquired speed, is opposed solely by the centrifugal forcewhich binds the balls against the walls of the pockets, and while i theballs will yield a trifle nevertheless they will be instantly projectedas soon as they come opposite a perforation of the diaphragm, and thusit will Abe understood that the impulses given to the air as aboveyreferred to are due to the combined and mutual movements of thediaphragm and balls toward each other. The springs are merelyserviceable in insuring the proper projected position of the balls sothat they can be acted on by the centrifugal force at the earliestpossible moment in order to make the initial alarm louder and moresustained. 'It is of course possible to make the springs powerful enoughso that the centrifugal force will not become a factor at all, but thiswould not only greatly increase the wear against the diaphragm 4andballs but would consume power useless'ly, and we would greatly prefer tolrely on the centrifugal force supplemented bythe auxiliary springs tobring the balls more quickly into efective operation.

The force of the springs impels the balls in to initial contact againstthe diaphragm w1th force sufficient to slightly bow the latteroutwardly, and as the head 5 revolves these balls will bind with more orless friction against the outer side walls of the pockets 6, thusrendering it more difficult to force the balls rearwardly, and as thespeed; of the motor increases this friction will become greater and theresult is that the balls will be held against return movement into theirsockets by suilicient force to cause the diaphragm to be vibratedoutwardly to a greater degree as shown in dotted lines in Fig. l. Itfollows therefore that these balls will rapidly and violently strikeglancing blowsat the far sides of the perforations in the diaphragm andwill impart a series of rapid pulsations or viabrations to thediaphragm. It is not necessary, therefore, to utilize a diaphragm havingsuch a high degree of elasticity since we do notv depend solely upon thevibrations of such diaphragm to cause the greater volume of sound. Theballs are perfectly free, and in engaging with the diaphragm they willhave an independent revolution after the manner of ball bearings, andthis peculiarity is a great benefit because we are thereby enabled togreatly economize in the use of power. lt will thus be seen that we donot rely solely upon the positive vibrations of the diaphragm nor do weemploy rigid unyielding elements as the cams in order to force thediaphragm outwardly and then permit it to complete its vibrations.

We prefer that the head shall be of such dimensions-that it will becoextensive with that part of the area of the diaphragm 100 whichcontains the perforations and is coincident with the orbit of said head,so that said perforations will at no time have more open communicationwith the body of air contained within the cheek plate 4 than that 105afforded by the space Abetweenl the diaphragm and the head itself.

Having thus described our invention what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is y l. An alarm horn, comprising a horn orresonator. a diaphragm having perforations, a rotary head spaced fromsaiddiaphragm and carrying means for sequentially plugging and openingsaid perforations.

2. An alarm horn, comprising a horn or resonator, a perforateddiaphragm, and a rotary plunger element maintained in contact with saiddiaphragm and adapted to alternately plug and open said perforations.120

3. An alarm horn, comprising a horn or resonator, a perforateddiaphragm, a motor, an element revolved by said motor in spaced relationto said diaphragm, and plunger devices carried by said element andcoperat- 125 ing with said diaphragm to alternately plug and open saidperforations.

4. In an alarm horn, the combination of a horn or resonator, a diaphragmhaving concentric perforations, a motor, and guided 130 plunger devicescarried by said motor against said diaphragm and coincidently concentricwith said p'erforations.

5. In an alarm horn, a horn or resonator and a perforated diaphragm, incombination with rotary resiliently acting plungers maintained incontact with said diaphragm and adapted to alternately plug and ppen theperforations therein.

(i. An alarm horn, comprising a horn or resonator. a perforateddiaphragm, a rotary recessed head in close relation to said d'iaphra gm.and spring impelled balls contained within the recesses in said head andadapted to track against said diaphragm and plunge within theperfora-tions therein.

T. An alarm horn, comprising a horn or resonator, a diaphragm, a rotaryhead having ope-n pockets in its face and spaced from said diaphragm,balls loosely contained within the mouths of said pockets, and springswithin said pockets and bearing against said balls at the rear thereofwhereby the latter may advance or recede in respect to saidl diaphragm.

8. An alarm horn, comprising a horn or resonator, a rotary head havingopen pockets in its face that are divergent to and concentric with theaxis of revolution of said head, balls freely contained within saidpockets, and a diaphragm spaced from said head and having surfaceirregularities which are eoncentrically arranged with respect to theaxis of revolution of said head and successively engaged by said balls.

9. An alarm horn, comprising a horn or resonator, a rotary head havingopen pockets in its face that are divergent to and concentric with -theaxis of revolution of said head, balls freely contained within saidpockets, springs within said pockets and bearing against the rear ofsaid balls, and a diaphragm spaced from said head and having surfaceirregularities which are engaged by said balls as said head revolves.

10. In an alarm horn, the combination of a horn or resonator, adiaphragm having a concentric row of perforations therein. a motor, ahead spaced from said diaphragm and carried by said motorand coeXtensivcwith that part of the 'diaphragm which contains said perforations and iscoincident with the orbit of said head, open pockets in the face of saidhead that are disposed divergent to and concentric with the axis ofrevolution of said head and are coincidently concentric with saidperforations as the head revolves, balls freely contained within saidpockets, and springs likewise within said pockets in the rear of saidballs and acting to initially force the latter in contact against saiddiaphragm.

11. In a device of the character described the combination with arecessed diaphragm. a resonator therefor, and means for striking saiddiaphragm at said recess a plurality of successive glancing blows.

12. In a device of the character described th'e combination with arecessed diaphragm, a resonator therefor, and rotatable means forstriking said diaphragm at said recess a plurality of successiveglancing blows.

13. In a device of the character described the combination with arecessed diaphragm, a resonator therefor', and centrifugally controlledmeans for striking said diaphragm at said recess a plurality ofsuccessive glancing blows.

14. In a device of the character described the combination with arecessed diaphragm, a resonator therefor, a'nd centrifugally controlledrotatable means for striking said diaphragm at said recess a pluralityof successive glancing blows.

15. In a device of the character described the combination with arecessed diaphragm, a resonator therefor, and centrifugally controlledmeans for striking said diaphragm at said recess a pluralitv ofsuccessive blows.

16. In a device of the character described in combination with arecessed diaphragm, of an impact device to strike said diaphragm at theedge of said recess.

17. In a device of the character described, the combination with adiaphragm, a motor, an armature for said motor, a ring carried by saidmotor having a plurality of recesses, and balls carried in said recessesand actuated by centrifugal force when said motor is operated, wherebysaid balls are adapted to strike said diaphragm.

1S. In a device of the character described, the combination with arecessed diaphragm` means for striking said diaphragm at said recess aplurality of successive glancing blows, and a motor for operating saidmeans.

19. In a device of the character described the combination with `arecessed diaphragm, means for striking said diaphragm at the far side ofsaid recess a plurality of suc! cessive glancing blows and a motor foroperating said means.

20. In a device of the character described, the combination with adiaphragm having a plurality' of recesses. and means for striking saiddiaphragm at all of said recesses simultancously.

2l. In a device of the character described the con'ibination with adiaphragm, and a plurality of centrifugally controlled independentlyrotatable impact devices for simultaneously striking said diaphragm at aplurality of separate points adjacent to but distributed about thecenter.

22. In a horn or signaling device the combination of a vibratory soundproducing part in the form of a diaphragm, and a rotary part forimparting vibrations to said diaphragm and havinglits axis of rotatipnpresented endwise to the plane of said diay a high-speed drive shaftsubstantially at right angles to the plane of the diaphragm,

and a head adjacent to and spaced from said diaphragm, one of said partspresenting an annular row of circular recesses in the face thereoftoward the other part and a ball supported by the other part, each ofsaid last mentioned recesses being of less diameter than said ball andadapted to successively receive said ball during the rotation of saidsecond-mentioned part to cause the vibration of the diaphragm.

24.` A device of the character described comprising an agitator memberincluding a motor-driven rotary disk, a vibratory member mountedadjacent thereto but spaced therefrom, and a transmitter memberoperating between said agitator member and' said vibratory member andnormally resting in a depression in one of said members and held thereinsolely by the other of said members, said last-mentioned member' havinga series of depressions with which said transmitter member successivelyengages during therotation of said disk.

25. A device of the character described comprising an agitator memberconsisting of a motor-driven rotary disk having a series of recesses inits face, a vibratory-member mounted adjacent thereto but spacedtherefrom and having a series of recesses and a series of hardened steelballs mounted in the recesses of one of said members and adapted forsuccessive engagement with the recesses of the other of said membersduring the rotation of said disk.

26. A device of the character described comprising an agitator memberconsisting of a motor-driven rotary disk, a vibratory member mountedadjacent thereto but spaced therefrom, and a transmitter member normallyresting in a depression in one vof said members and held therein solelyby engage- 27. A horn or signa-ling device including a Y diaphragm, arotor in the form of a head rotatable about an axis at right angles tosaid diaphragm and having a series of recesses in the face thereoftoward said diaphragm, and an annular row of hardened steel ballsmounted for engagement Vwith said diaphragm' to vibrate the latter andfree to move in a direction substantially at right angles to saiddiaphragm during the rotation of said rotor.

28. A horn or signalin device inclu ding a diaphragm, a rotor in t eform'v of a head rotatableabout an axis at right angles to saiddiaphragm atthe center thereof and having a series of spaced recesses inthe face thereof toward said diaphragm, and an annular row of hardenedsteel balls mounted f or direct engagement with the surface of Y saiddiaphragm to vibrate the latter and free to move in a directionsubstantially at right angles to said diaphragm during the rotation ofsaid rotor.

v 29. In a horn or signaling device, the combination of a vibratorysound producing part in the form of an elastic diaphragm, a rotary partfor imparting vibrations' to said diaphragm and having its aXis ofrotation presented endwise to the plane of said diaphragm, a high speedelectric motor for rotating said second mentioned part, one

of said parts having a series of surface irregularities arrangedconcentrically with the axis of rotation and the other of said partshaving a socket and a rotatable ball positioned therein, said ballengaging with said series of irregularities in succession as said secondmentioned part rotates and said ball being held in said socket solely byengagement with the opposed part.

In testimony whereof we affix oursignatures in presence of twowitnesses.

WILLIAM EDWIN' RUSSELL. WILLIAM EARLE RUSSELL.

Witnesses:

MARGARET L. FEELEY, EDMUND RmLEss.

